Beautiful one day, untouched the next

Just a few weeks ago, the London Independent published a list of "the most dangerous places in the world to go on holiday." Included in the top twenty danger spots, alongside Iraq, Syria and Somalia, was the small half-island nation of Timor-Leste, just 640 kilometres northwest of Darwin. My first response was to congratulate myself on my bravery; I have lived and worked in Timor-Leste for the past five years. But that's avoiding what became obvious to me during those years: Timor-Leste is no more dangerous a place to live in or visit than most other developing nations to which I’ve travelled.